Please see for me if her hair hangs long/
For that’s the way I remember her best.
Bob Dylan’s “Girl From The North Country” is a song that you swear you’ve heard before. It sounds like a song that existed before time. Part of that is because it is similar to many old folk songs. Part of that is because I think that one of the qualities of a good folk song is that it sounds like it must have been written long, long ago.
(Consider Woodie Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land”…someone had to actually write that, it didn’t just always exist.) But this is actually a Dylan original. It was written in his early years when he was still an up-and-coming folk singer.
Dylan’s “Girl From the North County” is a sad song—the narrator is asking a friend to check in on a girl he once considered his true love. The narrator sounds nostalgic about both his home and his one-time love, but from his tone we get the sense that both are in his past.
One of the more interesting verses is where Dylan mentions that he spends time wondering if she ever thinks of him. I think that “Girl From the North Country” is one of the songs that Dylan wrote in which he speaks most fondly of the woman.
At this stage of his career Dylan only played with his guitar and harmonica—as you can hear in this song. Some of his best work was done during this time. Of course, he delivered great songs for over four (some might say five or six) decades.
Girl From The North Country Lyrics
If you’re traveling till the north country fair,
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline.
Remember me to one who lives there,
For she once was the true love of mine.
See for me if her hair’s hanging down,
It curls and flows all down her breast.
See for me that her hair’s hanging long,
That’s the way I remember her best.
If you go when the snowflakes fall,
When the rivers freeze and summer ends.
Please see for me if she’s wearing a coat so warm,
To keep her from the howlin’ winds.
I’m wondering if she remembers me at all,
Many times I’ve often prayed.
In the darkness of my nights,
In the brightness of my days.
And if you’re traveling in the north country fair
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
Remember me to one who lives there
For she once was a true love of mine
written by Bob Dylan